clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Monday Morning Notes

By Seth C

Texas Tech Football:

LAJ's Don Williams is on top of things. The most shocking bit of news is that guard Josh Aleman may have quit. I'll let Leach explain:

"I think he quit,'' head coach Mike Leach said. "I don't know for sure. If he's going to quit, he needs to quit. I'm tired of (hearing) rumblings.''

And:

"Football's a deal where a guy has to very badly want to play in order to be effective,'' Leach said. "He's going to have to make those decisions himself. We're not in the business of begging guys to play.''

Remember, Aleman wasn't on the spring roster, but then he showed up and played. Sounds like Leach could care less. Strange. As an aside, is there a coach in America who would have been this honest? I don't think so.

Don also reports that Edward Britton will move to the split end or X position and Todd Walker will team up with Crabtree at flanker or the Z position. Personally, I love this move and think utilizing Britton's speed is key for this team and Riley and Leach realize the importance of stretching the field in this offense. Riley on Britton:

"Everybody knows about his speed,'' Riley said. "When a guy's running 20 or 30 vertical routes a game, that's really going to stress defenses and stretch the field for us. He does a great job getting off the line of scrimmage, which is key at 'X' because 'X' is usually on the line of scrimmage.''

Don's second article is about tight end Adam James. Leach on James:

"We don't entirely know what we have with him,'' Leach said after Monday's practice. "We're looking forward to seeing. I think he's got real soft natural hands and catches the ball real well.''

Don Huddles Up With . . . Buzz Chisum, Director of Sports Medicine for Football. Don also focuses on the backup running back position where Baron Batch is recovering from a staph infection and ankle surgery so the job is Kobey Lewis' to lose.

A little late, the Daily Toreador's Ben Maki reports that Saturday's practice was somewhat spirited. DTN's least favorite Raider, Kellen Tillman said he was working on the following:

"My thing that I would like to work on a little more is my anticipation and my tackling," he said. "That's something I was really down on myself about last season. Just coming out, everyday that's something I want to focus on, like getting my feet set and breaking down and not try to overrun receivers."

Huh. Working on tackling. A linebacker working on tackling.

DMN's Todd Davis reports that Tech will play Nevada in Reno in 2008.

Over at Rivals.com they believe Graham Harrell is the #8 QB in the nation, sandwiched between UT's Colt McCoy and Kentucky's Andre' Woodson.

NCAA Tournament:

Peter over at BON notes, and rightfully so, that guards haven't dominated play as they have in prior NCAA Tournaments. On some level he's right, last year's national champion, Florida, had/have Horford and Noah dominate (guards are/were Green and Humphrey). In 2005, North Carolina's Marvin Williams and Scott May won the National Championship (but also had Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton). In 2004 Emeka Okafor and Josh Boone were big players for Connecticut (Huskies had Ben Gordon). I think it's becoming evident that teams need to have the complete package to win it all (that's why I thought Kansas was going to be this year's runner-up to Georgetown).

Notre Dame blog, Rakes of Mallow thinks this has been one of the more disappointing NCAA Tournaments ever.

Surely, Gillispie won't leave for Arkansas? Does anyone really think that this is a step-up? I know that A&M doesn't have the history that Arkansas has, but Clyde's got a really sweet deal at A&M, a new arena, and an increasing fan base. Not to mention, I think that A&M will pay him as much money as he can stuff in his pockets. I think I'm too much of a Big 12 homer to realize that there are actually better jobs in the nation. The 12th ManChild will be on top of all your A&M news.

Texas Tech Baseball:

The Red Raiders have to get back on the saddle as they face the New Mexico State Aggies at 6:30 p.m. at Dan Law Field. It would be real nice to see Tech get a solid pitching performance, whether it be a starter or a reliever.

LAJ's George Watson discusses what's important in conference play, winning at home.

Corn Nation looks at the week that was in his Big 12 Week In Review.

More From Viva The Matadors